Kia looks to global reach, product to succeed in India

Ahead of its launch next year, Kia Motors has started the 'beginning of the beginning' for the brand in India, according to Manohar Bhat, head - sales and marketing, Kia Motors.

 

It has started with Kia Motors leveraging its global tie-up with the FIFA World Cup through which it's sending six young Indians to Russia for the tournament. Two of these youngsters will be delivering the match balls to the captains for the Brazil v/s Costa Rica and Belgium v/s Panama game. 

 

Bhat believes that marketing strategies like these will help the Indian customer get acclimatised to the brand as Kia Motors is a late entrant in the Indian automobile space. 

 

In a conversation with Campaign India, he said, "We want to make it a better known name in India before we launch. Right now people who have travelled abroad know about Kia Motors. We want to make it a household brand in India by the time we launch." The brand aims to showcase its tagline, 'We have the power to surprise' in its truest sense in India.

 

The first challenge was to get a product that the customer would like. Company executives feel that has been sorted, as people who saw the car at the Auto Expo really liked the car. "It is a question of meeting the needs of the customers. You give the youngsters a vehicle that appeals to them and they will surely go for it," said Bhat.

 

"Step two is now about getting the right partners to bring our global standards to life. We need to have the right dealership and network partners and that's what is underway," he added. 

 

Bhat informed that Kia Motors will be using other global partnerships like the one with UEFA (for the Europa League) and the Australian Open to reach out to the youth.

 

"We have many ideas for furthering sports in India. This is just the beginning for us. In fact it's the beginning of the beginning."